Jesus Comic Launched for iPhone

British comics creator and school teacher Jason Ramasami (www.saamvisual.com) has created a wordless "Jesus Comic" iApp, retelling the main events of Jesus' life as a memorable educational resource for my students.

A Religious Studies school teacher, Jason, who has been drawing a monthly comic for Christian News Monthly since 2003, released the comic as an iPhone app in December, as a means of trying to distribute it digitally, working with two other people, Tony Waghorn and David Butler, on its development.

"Lots of students have iPod Touches," Jason told downthetubes. "It isn't aimed primarily at a religious audience: it just seeks to encourage greater familiarity with the story of Jesus in a visual way. I don't see it as a substitute for reading the Bible, but as a kick-starter for discussion and a way of involving visual learners.

"My approach in teaching Religious Studies is to ask 'what is your worldview' (hence the website address of one of my sites, www.whatisyourworldview.com) and I try to model an approach of curiosity and investigation with the students, while also encouraging them to develop their own convictions about faith and beliefs.

"I understand that religion tends to be a little polarising and often misunderstood, and I'm well aware of what a minefield this subject matter can be," he adds. "I've worked hard at doing something that was unique to my own vision and that didn't fit in with anyone else's views throughout the project.

"My aim in developing this app (which I hope will be picked up by a publisher at some point) is to encourage students to engage meaningfully with the Jesus-narrative and form their views on something more accurate than second hand opinion.

"The comic runs to 150 'pages' of wordless artwork," he says of the comic itself. "We are anticipating releasing it in several languages.

"It took me about two years to produce while working full time as a school teacher. I use the images in class when I am trying to engage mainly secular students in the Bible narrative. Often this proves more useful because lots of my students are visual learners and they enjoy this approach."

"Each 'chapter' has a Bible reference to establish the context," Jason, who also makes short educational/documentary films about different worldviews to assist his teaching in class, continues. "After that it is up to you to work it out, although the website provides extra clues, and people can always get in touch with me if they are struggling."

The App, available on iTunes for just £1.19, (search for "jesus comic"), also has a companion website (thejesuscomic.com) for people who need more information.

"There is a free sample version that can be downloaded and two chapters to view on the facebook fan page," says Jason. "We also have a twitter news update feed."

• For more about Jason's work visit www.saamvisual.com or www.youtube.com/saamvisual

• Exploring beliefs www.whatisyourworldview.com

Reliance launch Cartoon Network Comics in India

While mobile comics are proving increasingly popular in the west as both large and smaller US companies move to both create new and adapt existing material, other countries are fast playing catch up - and the potential market is huge, even though prices for services will be much lower than charges being demanded of western comic fans. India, for example, is proving a hotbed of new "momics", as they've been labelled there, with telecom networks such as Tata Docomo and Airtel launching WAP-based services.

Tata's “Docomics” mobile comics service offers a range of strips first published in print by major Indian publishers like Raj Comics and ACK, such as adventure strips featuring Indian heroes such as Akbar and Birbal, with other comics - Manga, Disney and more - on their way. ACK is also marketing iPhone versions of their strips.

This week, Reliance Communication announced it was joining the fray, launching Cartoon Network Comics in partnership with the Cartoon Network Channel and Naraza Technology.

Cartoon Network Comics are being squarely pitched at comic fans on the move, wanting to read a comic at a train station or while travelling, with Reliance offering a "worldwide service" at a low price in an attempt to maximise the appeal of the product.

On offer from Reliance are strips featuring Cartoon Network’s Ben 10, Johnny Bravo, Dexter’s Laboratory and Powerpuff Girls, Tom & Jerry and more, available with just a nominal extra price of Rs.1 with subscribers receiving one comic strip from each of the titles daily.

A subscription is valid for a month and renewable thereafter with the comic book divided into a number of pages and each page further being divided into two parts each – one being the visual, the second text. Subscribers can start reading the strip from the first of the comic book, irrespective of the date of subscription.

“Reliance Communications believes in providing subscribers with the most exciting services," enthused Krishna Durbha, Head of Reliance Communications. "With the launch of Comics on Mobiles service, subscribers can now be transported to the imaginary world of comics by merely pressing a button. This unique offering caters to the constantly changing needs of our subscribers and ensures that they don’t miss out on entertainment when they are on the move.”

“We're delighted to be associated with Reliance Communications to provide Cartoon Network comics to their subscribers," added Turner's Vice President and Deputy General Manager for South Asia, Siddharth Jain. "As the leader of kids TV space, Cartoon Network has consistently offered quality entertainment on the go to ensure an instant and enriching experience beyond the television screen.”

The new service is just one of many being rolled out in India, and it will be interesting to see how good take-up is. With other services only launched recently, subscription figures have yet to be released.

The Time Traveller's Cheat Sheet

(via BoingBoing, Geekology and others): “Let’s say you’ve gone back in time. Nice one. Okay, we’re going to assume that you’re on earth and you can read English. So far, so good. But how can you build all the amenities of tomorrow when you’re stuck in the past?”

We love a good viral and this one, the creation of that longtime genius, Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics, definitely counts: it's just started doing the rounds again thanks to boingboing and others.

It's a available as both a t-shirt and poster from Ryan's web site (http://qwantz.com) in his shop.

Comic Creators Ally against Human Trafficking

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead


Monday, 11th January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the US. To participate, a number of comics creators including Heroes Inc. creator Scott Austin, writer Peter David and X-Men artist J.K. Woodward - formed the Comic Creator's Alliance - a group of over 80 comic book creators (both web and print) who volunteered their artistic talents to raise money and awareness for this cause.

You may not know it, but there are currently 27 million enslaved people worldwide - more than double the number of enslaved Africans during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children every year are sold into slavery, most of it sexual. The US Department of Justice estimates 16,000 victims of human trafficking are brought into the United States every year.

Unlike slavery in the 19th century, what is happening today is happening in secret. So it won't end until awareness is raised, and people need to take a stand.

So here's what the comic creators - all listed here - did: each of them contributed an original drawing of one of their own female characters, and combined them into a single wallpaper image. The preview featured above is just a small snippet of a simply gorgeous montage intended to raise money and awareness for an important cause.

The wallpaper features characters from The Phoenix Requiem, Girls with Slingshots, Earthsong, Looking for Group, Shadowgirls, Marsh Rocket, The Uniques and three IDW Publishing titles: Fallen Angel, The Dreamland Chronicles and The Dreamer, and lots, lots more.

To get hold of a copy, all you need to do is donate to the cause via the CCA website and download this unique, once-in-a-lifetime wallpaper. The Donations Drive will last for two weeks, from 11th - 24th January and all proceeds will be split evenly between Love146 and Gracehaven House - two organizations working on rehabilitation of victims and prevention of this crime.

• To learn more about the Comic Creator's Alliance visit www.comicalliance.weebly.com.


• To learn more about the problem, visit http://love146.org/slavery. (Be warned: contains adult themes and actual accounts of sex slavery.)

Graphic.ly demonstrated at CES

As part of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s opening keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Ballmer demonstrated Graphic.ly’s upcoming application that provides an immersive social experience and marketplace for digital comics and associated merchandise.

The application - which will first be available for Windows, mobile and android users, with a web-based version in the pipeline - is the brainchild of Kevin Mann, who left his job and built Graphic.ly after getting frustrated with the inability of his local comic shop to have the comics he wanted.

After attending TechStars in Boulder, Colrado, where Kevin met Micah Baldwin, they assembled a team to build Graphic.ly, the first community where members can both purchase and discuss comic books with each other, creators and publishers.

Using some of Microsoft’s technologies like Windows Azure, Graphic.ly can serve content to users in multiple ways, so that content can be accessed quickly and easily. The Middlesbrough-based company has launched a private beta with the iFanboy community.

The company, which as a sales team in the US, has also announced a partnership with Marvel Comics, one of the leaders in comics, allowing Graphic.ly users to read Marvel comics on the go, exactly like what Panelfly did on the iPhone.

“We’ve tried to make an app that is like hanging out with your friends and reading comics,” Kevin Mann, co-founder of Graphic.ly told the Financial Times. “You can pass and share different books and talk to your friends at any time and the comics themselves are interactive.”

The company had a 60 per cent rise in sign-ups overnight after Mr Ballmer demonstrated its software on a HP tablet at CES; earlier this week it announced a £750,000 funding round from NorthStar Equity Investors, which focuses on North East England, as well as several US funds including DFJ Mercury, Starz Media and Chris Sacca, an early investor in Twitter.

“Comics are a conventional industry and looking to change the ways they bring comics to the public,” said Michelle Cooper, investment manager at NorthStar.

Graphic.ly is also part of Microsoft’s Bizspark programme, which provides free software, mentoring and promotion to a select band of technology start-ups.

“We are excited that startups such as Graphic.ly are part of our BizSpark One program,” said Dan’l Lewin, vice president of Corporate Development and Emerging Business at Microsoft. “Through the program, they have been able to leverage some of our key technologies – including Windows Azure – in new and interesting ways, and we are thrilled to help showcase that work at events like CES.”

With its showcase in the CES opening keynote, Graphic.ly was able to feature its application and its service that is focused on building a complete experience for comic book collectors and enthusiasts. For the debut,

Graphic.ly has also launched a private beta with iFanboy, the largest community for comic book enthusiasts.

“Graphic.ly is dedicated to providing a unique experience for comic book enthusiasts and fans,” Micah Baldwin, CEO and co-founder of Graphic.ly, said. “We are building a platform for a community to discuss and share their experiences with digital comics.”

“We are pleased that Graphic.ly understands the power of the iFanboy community,” stated Ron Richards, Editor of iFanboy, “and we are excited to be the first to test their product."

Two weeks after the private beta is closed and feedback is received from the community, Graphic.ly will launch a public beta with Windows 7. Other platforms for Web-enabled devices including Adobe AIR and iPhone will also be coming to market, to showcase the Graphic.ly application.

• More info at: http://www.graphic.ly

Tata Docomo launches Docomics in India

Indian mobile company Tata Docomo has just launched Docomics, a service that will enable consumers to read full comics along with special effects like character vibration, sounds and zooming text bubbles, by smooth downloading.

Comics news site Bleeding Cool reports Marvel Comics will be part of the line up, including the likes that are available in the US on the iPhone, will be published on normal phones, boosted by special effects including character vibration, sounds and zooming speech balloons and captions. And as well as the likes of Astonishing X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man and Civil War, customers wil also have access to manga titles such as Geobreeders, Tamahagane and Aqua Planet Chronicle.

Indian companies have branded mobile comics "momics" and the description now appears to be getting picked up beyond the Asian sub-continent.

Speaking on the occasion, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited General Manager (marketing) Gandhi Balasubramaniam said, "Combining the growing trend of entertainment, on-the-move, especially in a busy metropolis like Mumbai, with the increasing popularity of Marvel Comics and the world-famous Japanese Manga; Tata Docomo and NTT Docomo have partnered to introduce DoComics.

"We are confident that this unique format will rapidly gain popularity and further strengthen brand Tata Docomo's connect with the young."

"It's one of the important achievements of the collaboration between NTT DoComoc and TTML in order to develop and introduce enhanced services and technologies into the Indian market," added NTT Docomics, Global Business Division, Executive Advisor Murat O Karadeniz. "I look forward to seeing Tata Docomo users enjoy sophisticated Manga service in Docomics."

As an introductory offer, Tata DoComo customers will be charged only 15 rupees per comic chapter and there will be no data charges in home network,according to a company press release.

Mobile Comics are proving a popular idea in India, with ROK Comics working with partners there to provide services for Airtel and other telcos. Meanwhile, Mogae Digital says it is employing a team of over 300 professionals to create the content and graphics for the Indian "momics" market.

Mogae says it has already developed over 20 titles including daily comic strips and monthly titles, cutting across genres to catch the fancy of readers and mobile users of every kind.

Sandeep Goyal, chairman of Mogae Digital strongly believes that momics will find many takers in India. "I think if the content is good, then the medium to a certain extent doesn't matter too much," Goyal told Rediff Business, whose company has a joint venture with Astro Malaysia.

Those eReader innovations just keep on coming...

Hot on the heels of iSlate, Skiff and other eReader news this week comes word that knfb Reader Technology founder and voice-recognition inventor Ray Kurzweil will unveil Blio, free eReader software that the company says promises to transform the consumption of printed media while delivering access to the most comprehensive selection of eBook titles.

The Blio software will be demonstrated at the Microsoft booth (7144) at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas tomorrow (Wednesday 6th January).

Blio will, apparently, be the first eReader to preserve the image-rich format of books and magazines, including their layout, typesetting, images, color and graphics, while also supporting full media functionality, including video, graphics, and web links.

The Blio software application is designed for use across multiple platforms - from desktop PCs and netbooks to tablet PCs and mobile devices, including iPhones and iPods.

• Blio will be available for download at blioreader.com late January 2010.

Flexible Skiff Reader Rolls Out for CES

Skiff and US telecom Sprint have announced that they will preview the impressive looking Skiff Reader, the first e-reader optimized for newspaper and magazine content, at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas later this week (7th-8th January). It looks like another device that removes the need for re-formatting of the traditional comics page for mobile comic fans on the move.

The Skiff Reader features the largest and highest-resolution electronic-paper display yet unveiled in a consumer device, measuring 11.5" in size (measured diagonally) and a resolution of 1200 x 1600 pixels (UXGA). Described as sleek and easy to use, it's also just over a quarter-inch in overall height, making the device the thinnest e-reader announced to date. The device weighs just over one pound and lasts over a week of average use between charges.

A full touchscreen enables users to intuitively navigate and engage with the newspapers, magazines, books and other digital content purchased through the Skiff Store, as well as personal and work documents.

“The Skiff Reader’s big screen will showcase print media in compelling new ways,” says Gilbert Fuchsberg, president of Skiff. “This is consistent with Skiff’s focus on delivering enhanced reading experiences that engage consumers, publishers and advertisers.”

The company says the Skiff Reader is designed not just for sleekness but also for durability. It's the first consumer product to feature the next-generation of e-paper display – one based on a thin, flexible sheet of stainless-steel foil, a step away from the fragile glass that is the foundation of almost every electronic screen – and a primary source of vulnerability and breakage risk in the devices that incorporate them.

Skiff has worked closely with LG Display, one of the world’s leading display manufacturers and the innovator of the foil-display technology, to optimize and implement this first-of-its-kind non-glass display uniquely for the Skiff Reader.

In the US, Skiff has signed a multi-year agreement with Sprint to provide 3G connectivity for Skiff’s dedicated e-reading devices and plans are underway to have the Skiff Reader available for purchase later this year in more than 1,000 Sprint retail locations, as well as online at www.sprint.com. There's no detail, as yet, on Skiff's plans for overseas distribution of the device, but its web site indicates it is looking at worldwide sales.

Availability, pricing, additional distribution channels and other details will be disclosed at a later date.

Skiff says it will also make it easier for consumers to access content from multiple publishers across a range of devices.

“The forthcoming launch of the Skiff Reader is an exciting development for consumers who are looking for more and more choice in the arena of embedded devices,” said Dan Dooley, president wholesale solutions, Sprint. “We have witnessed a strong demand for e-readers in recent years and now Sprint is showing its commitment to Skiff by making this new device available on the 3G network and for sale in Sprint retail stores.”

In addition to 3G, the Skiff Reader will also support wireless connectivity via Wi-Fi.

The Skiff Reader will feature the Skiff service and digital store, allowing consumers to wirelessly purchase and access a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, books, blogs and other content from multiple publishers. Newspaper and magazine content delivered by Skiff will feature visually appealing layouts, high-resolution graphics, rich typography and dynamic updates, supporting key design qualities that help publications differentiate themselves and attract subscribers and advertisers.

Besides the Skiff Reader, Skiff is working with major consumer electronics manufacturers to integrate Skiff’s service, digital store and client software into a range of innovative devices. By supporting a variety of devices from multiple manufacturers, and through complementary applications for major smartphone platforms, Skiff hopes it will make it easier for publishers to distribute content and advertising across a range of devices and form factors, an increasingly important goal as the e-reading market continues to grow.

The company also provides periodical publishers tools to maintain their distinct visual identities, build and extend relationships with subscribers, and wirelessly deliver dynamic content and advertising to both dedicated e-readers and multipurpose devices.

• For more information visit Skiff at www.Skiff.com

Time to upscale your apps for Apple's iSlate?

Select Apple developers have been told to upscale apps to 320x480 for a supposed showcase of the much-rumoured iTablet - which may be launched as iSlate.

Following up on previous claims by the Financial Times of a 26th January event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Fox News has now reported the firm will finally unveil its long-rumoured iPhone-like tablet device there.

Develop Online says Fox News also claims that the event will definitely "focus on the mobility space", which it takes as a clear indication of the imminent unveiling of Apple's tablet device - which other recent reports suggest will be called iSlate.

Late last month news broke that a small group of developers had been asked to produce upscaled versions of their iPhone apps for the launch, to support full screen resolution - rather than a fixed 320x480.

Whether these developers included any of the iPhone comics developers such as IVerse or Comixology is unknown.

Bonnier unveils Mag+ eReader Prototype

Finnish media company Bonnier has recently published information about a very interesting looking eReader prototype, Mag+ and provided this intriguing video of the design on Vimeo.

The look is great and the thought that has gone into re-designing traditional print magazines for eReader presentation reflects the kind of thinking that made products like the iPhone so successful - it's simple, easy to use and looks very slick. (Apple may be launching its long-awaited iTablet at the end of January, and we hope they've been thinking on similar lines).

Bonnier says the conceptual video is part of a corporate collaborative research project initiated by Bonnier R&D into the experience of reading magazines on handheld digital devices. It illustrates one possible vision for digital magazines in the near future, presented by Bonnier's London-based design partners at BERG.

"The concept aims to capture the essence of magazine reading, which people have been enjoying for decades," the company says, "an engaging and unique reading experience in which high-quality writing and stunning imagery build up immersive stories.

"The concept uses the power of digital media to create a rich and meaningful experience, while maintaining the relaxed and curated features of printed magazines. It has been designed for a world in which interactivity, abundant information and unlimited options could be perceived as intrusive and overwhelming.

"The purpose of publishing this concept video is first and foremost to spark a discussion around the digital reading experience in general, and digital reading platforms in particular."

Bonnier would be more than happy to hear what people have to say regarding the concept and ideas expressed in the video: the magazine reading experience, digital browsing, text versus images, as well as hear about your own digital reading experiences and thoughts. Visit their blog to comment or find them on Twitter.

• Bonnier web site at: www.bonnier.com/en